


Stories of the wind

by Moonlightflower



Series: The Origins of the Piston Peak Air Attack team [1]
Category: Cars (Movies), Planes (Movies)
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Hospitals, I'll give you a list of the names for them in the series description, Nicknames, Off-Screen Injury, Origin Story, Original Character(s), slightly made up tribe culture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-01
Updated: 2019-04-03
Packaged: 2019-12-30 15:09:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,929
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18317774
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moonlightflower/pseuds/Moonlightflower
Summary: This is the story of how Maru and Windlifter first met, how they got into firefighting and how the two of them got into Piston Peak.It's the first part of my origin story for the entire Piston Peak team in my 'Flames of the heart' universe.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone, I'm back.
> 
> A little sooner than last time too ;) Well, this is the beginning of my origin series and the first part of Windlifter's and Maru's story. I hope you all like it!
> 
> Enjoy :)

He could hear the cries of the animals around him. It was as if nature itself was crying out. Beneath him, around him, everywhere. The cries of animals that were burning or desperately trying to flee. The cries of burning trees and bushes that were slowly succumbing to the flames that attacked them. Deafening cries drowning out the deafening roar of the fire. And him, in the very middle of it. Alone…

 

The wind was picking up around him, almost sounding like it was whispering words, calling out to him, telling him to follow its call.

 

But running wasn’t an option. This place was sacred to him, he couldn’t let it be destroyed. Not before-

 

The wind got stronger, pulling at him, getting more insistent in its pleas.

His people had always known the risks of living where they did. They had deliberately chosen the place because of the material the trees provided, and all the wildlife residing in the forest around them. It had been the ideal home, there was no way they could have gotten any closer to the nature that they had sworn to protect. He could still remember when he had first gone into the woods with his tribe’s lumberjacks. He would always remember the feeling of working so close to nature, feeling the connection strengthen with everything he took and gave in return. And now it was in flames.

 

He could feel the flames reaching out to him and still he was floating in the air, frozen, watching. His strength was slowly depleting and it was getting harder and harder to stay airborne, to keep breathing.

 

_Not yet… I can’t…_

 

He could feel his sight getting blurry, the images before him blurring until nothing but colorful dots remained.

 

He could almost make out actual words now. The wind was screaming…

 

He could feel himself falling, clinging to the wind that was shaking him, yelling at him to…

 

“WAKE UP!”

 

Windlifter’s eyes snapped open, his breathing quickening to the point that he was hyperventilating as he desperately tried to make out where he was.

 

“Hey! Look at me, listen to my voice! Deep breaths, in and out, you hear me?”

 

_Wind?_ Through the blur of colors and voices around him, this one voice sounded familiar.

 

“That’s it. Good. Just breathe. That’s right, everything will be okay. No need to panic.”

 

The voice was calm, cool lifts resting against his hot plating, slowly rubbing his sides in a calming motion. Windlifter let his eyes fall shut again, following the wind’s instruction and focusing on his breathing. The images – memories – slowly faded into the background as he put his entire focus on the touch to his side, grounding him into reality.

 

“There you go.”

 

The rubbing slowly subsided, forcing Windlifter to open his eyes again. He was in an emergency room, from the looks of it in a small countryside hospital. One look at himself showed that he was covered in burns and had several smaller injuries over his body. And with the realization that he was currently in pain, came the realization where it had come from.

_It wasn’t a dream…_

 

It felt like something was shattering inside him and before he knew it, he was in tears.

 

“Hey… Don’t cry.”

 

Windlifters focus snapped to the other mechanism in the room, nearly forgotten through the realization that his home, his family, his entire village was gone.

 

“Hey… Uh… So… Your chart doesn’t state your last name, so for the sake of communication I’ll just go by your first.”

 

Windlifter remained silent. There was nothing that the forklift could do to change his situation. He had failed his people, and even worse, his nature that he had sworn to protect.

 

“Oh no you don’t! You don’t get to have survivors guilt when everybody survived. That’s not how it works Windlifter.”

 

_What?_

 

“You got them out. I don’t know how the hell you did it on your own but you kept the fire in check long enough for your village to get to safety. You got them out.”

 

The ‘and then you managed to crash right into the flames, after everybody was already safe and you had no more business anywhere near the fire, damn it!’ was hanging in the air unsaid. And still, Windlifter heard it, just like he had heard the wind.

 

“We barely managed to get you back… You were well on your way to shut yourself down. Your injuries aren’t that grave - for the stunt you pulled they are actually pretty minor - but I think you were unconsciously trying to save yourself from waking up to the reality of what happened. We tried everything, believe me. I ended up talking to you for half an hour, at least half of that I was yelling. There was just no getting through to you…”

 

Windlifter couldn’t help it, he raised an eyelid and stared at the mechanic with a mix of disbelief and gratitude.

 

“You yelled at an unconscious patient?”

 

The look on the forklift’s face turned somewhat sheepish as he regarded him with a crooked smile.

 

“Yep. Got me into quite some trouble too… I think it may have cost me my job. I couldn’t just sit around and do nothing though. We were losing you!”

 

His words were quiet but no less determined and to Windlifter they rang core deep.

 

“Thank you, wind.”

 

“The name’s Maru, but I’ll take you mistaking me for yourself as a compliment.”

 

Windlifter chuckled, mirroring the smile that slowly overtook the mechanic’s lips.

“When I was unconscious I was back in the flames. I would have died if it hadn’t been for the wind holding me back. I heard you.”

 

At that, Maru blushed, the sheepish expression returning to his face as he regarded Windlifter with a wary look.

 

“You heard everything I said?”

 

Windlifter shook his head, simultaneously wondering just what the mechanic could have possibly yelled at him to have him blushing and get him fired.

 

“I just heard the wind whisper. I couldn’t make out the actual words, aside from you screaming that I should wake up at the end. But you kept me from falling nonetheless.”

 

“Huh.”

 

Maru looked a mix of intrigued and relieved at that news, the smile slowly returning to his face as he carefully bumped Windlifter’s side.

 

“So, you talk to the winds, ey? Anything else I should know about you? Like how in the name of the seven skies you ended up taking on that fire all alone?”

 

That sobered him up again, the memories slamming into him full force. He nearly lost himself in them for a second, distantly noticing the cool lifts returning to his side.

 

“I wanted to protect our nature from the danger of fire that our people inflict on it. We belief in letting nature run its course and let the fires come and renew the earth. But I didn’t want the home of so much life to get destroyed by the additional danger that we proposed. So I trained, got certified. I never did something about the smaller fires. The natural ones. They always took care of themselves, as Kayori intended. Until suddenly the wind turned against our village and then there were too many of them at once.”

 

Maru nodded, tree-green eyes never leaving his. At that moment, more than anything, they served as a reminder of his failure.

 

“Don’t blame yourself Windlifter. You did what you thought was right. And you did a hell of a job of it! I’m not sure how many people would have been able to pull something like that off and get out relatively unharmed. And I know quite a few who tried.”

 

At Windlifters questioning look, Maru’s eyes turned sad.

 

“You get used to people dying from stunts like yours when you do the job for a while. That, and I occasionally volunteer to be on call for several fire departments in case they need an extra mechanic. So believe me, doing what you did…”

 

His voice broke for a second, but Windlifter understood. They stayed silent for a minute, each of them caught up in their own thoughts on the subject. After a few minutes of comfortable silence, Maru cleared his throat and slowly distanced himself from the helicopter.

 

“I should probably go. You have some recovering to do and I shouldn’t even be here, so I better leave before they throw me out for patient harassment.”

 

His smile turned into a somewhat mischievous smirk and Windlifter distantly wondered how this person even became a mechanic. So far his personality didn’t quite fit the image of the kind and reserved healer. _Then again, I would probably have died if it weren’t for that attitude of his…_ Maru was already halfway out the door before Windlifter fully realized that he had even moved.

 

“Just so you know, don’t expect me getting fired to keep me from making sure you actually recover from this, copy that?”

 

The smirk was audible in his voice and Windlifter couldn’t help the small smile that overtook his face at that.

“I will be waiting, wind.”

 

Maru snorted, before letting the door slide shut behind him.

 

_I think I might even look forward to it._


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, here is the second part. Hope you all like it. Also, have fun with my bunch of OCs ;)
> 
> A bit of terminology for this one: maked = pregnant, giver=father, maker=mother, immaking=impregnating, though keep in mind that I see all of them as sort of genderless, meaning that everybody is capable of reproducing with everybody. I’ll probably get to a more detailed explanation at some point in this universe but until then, just know that they are capable of creating offspring. It’s not even that important here, just wanted you to know since I'll be using the words every now and then.
> 
> Enjoy :)

_Strange Patient…_

 

Maru had to suppress a grin at the thought of his conversation with Windlifter a few days prior. He’d met his fair share of firefighters whenever he was on call for them but he had never met anybody quite like him. _I mean, many of them live for the job like it’s their calling. But somehow, with him, it’s deeper. Much deeper. Even though I have no clue how the hell that is possible…_

He knew that Windlifter belonged to a tribe, had often read and even heard and seen for himself that their connection to nature was different, ran deeper. He had just never seen anything quite like it in a firefighter. _You may have acted according to your beliefs in letting those small fires burn but I could see it in your eyes that you hated it._ Maru had never seen such a fierce need to protect simply shine in somebody’s eyes. It had told him more about Windlifter that anything he could have said.

_He’s a firefighter at core._

 

And after what had just happened, Maru was pretty sure that Windlifter would no longer be able to keep his desire to protect locked down and let ‘nature run its course’. He had seen the despair in the heavy lifter’s eyes and knew that he was past the breaking point.   _Well, that’s what I’m here for._

 

The night before, he had gotten a radio from Chief Tamati Cian of the Piston Peak Air Attack team. Their mechanic had gotten himself maked and had decided to leave the team for a safer job in order to take care of his child.  Since it was the beginning of fire season where it was crucial to always have a mechanic around they had asked Maru if he would be willing to come. _And since I just got fired anyway, I might as well help out._ He had never been to Piston Peak before but he had heard about them plenty enough on his other jobs. Apparently, their national park was notorious for catching fire that had a tendency of quickly evolving into something dangerous due to the density of the forest and the way the park was structured. It was also said to be one of the most beautiful places to serve in the entire country. Which led to Maru sneaking around his old workplace on his way to Windlifter’s room.

 

_I may not know you very wel, but from what I’ve gathered, it seems like the perfect place for you._

 

Finding a way around his old coworkers was harder than he had first expected but it also left him with the smug satisfaction of knowing that he was doing the right thing whereas none of them had the slightest clue as to what was going on. He distantly wondered how he had ended up working in a hospital in the first place. It was so full of rules that sometimes prevented mechanics from doing what was needed. And you were under constant surveillance, the smallest things perceived as mishaps landing you in unimaginable trouble. Maru grimly shook his head. _I’m surprised I stayed as long as I did._

 

From the way it had sounded on the horn, the opening for a mechanic seemed permanent. And Maru had always liked being a part of something bigger, being able to help these heroes by making sure they were able to save others and came out intact. Or as close to that as possible. He wanted to help. Actually help, not the cheap version of help that this hospital sold. He wanted to be able to make a difference. _And if I didn’t know where to do that before, you showed me the way, Windlifter. So I guess I owe you._

The sleeping mat was empty when Maru entered the room, leaving him wondering for a second if maybe he was too late and Windlifter had already been released. He was on the verge of turning around and try to bribe one of the nurses into giving him the details when he heard a silent hum through the half-open window. Windlifter was standing in the small garden that was connected to the hospital, eyes closed and silently humming with the wind. Maru couldn’t help the small grin that spread on his face as he regarded the helicopter.

 

“Classic…”

 

Shaking his head he exited the room and made his way over to the garden. Before he even got a chance to announce himself Windlifter already greeted him with a small smile, eyes still closed. At this point, Maru wasn’t surprised. He just quietly laughed and rolled over to where Windlifter was standing in the breeze.

 

“Hello, Wind. You’re looking good. Are your injuries all healed?”

 

“Using my own nickname against me.”

 

The statement sounded sollemn enough for Maru to chuckle and give the helicopter a sidebump before regarding him with a smirk.

 

“Out of the two of us, you are the one talking to the winds. I’d say that qualifies you better for it than me. Besides, it’s a short version of your actual name, you know, like nicknames usually are.”

 

Windlifter actually grinned at that, leaving Maru puzzled for a moment but at the same time happy that he had made the other smile.

 

“I guess we’ll both be using it then, wind. Though my version of it is for you to hear and noone else, so I expect you probably won’t ever hear it again.”

 

“Huh?”

 

“As you pointed out, my injuries have healed sufficiently. I have been released from the hospital this morning and therefore no longer require you to take time to come and watch me.”

 

Maru’s smile softened at the somewhat weird reply. _Well, here goes nothing._

“Yeah, about that, I kinda had an ulterior motive before coming.”

 

Now it was Windlifter’s turn to look surprised and Maru couldn’t help but laugh.

 

“Remember that I told you I’m on call for fire departments? Well, I got a call yesterday from the Piston Peak Air Attack. Don’t know if you’ve heard of them but the place is supposed to be incredible. Sounds like just your kind of thing. And, no offense, but the way you were talking yesterday you didn’t seem entirely happy with your former ‘department’, so I thought since I’m going anyway I might as well offer to take you with me. It’s fire season, I’m sure they wouldn’t say no to an extra pair of rotors. And who knows, maybe you’ll like it there.”

 

For a moment Windlifter looked like he couldn’t belief Maru had just said that. Maru was on the verge of apologizing for overstepping his boundaries when Windlifter suddenly broke into a chuckle, evolving into quiet laughter as he regarded Maru with a mix of disbelief and slight fondness.

 

“And this, Maru, is why you are the wind. You have the ability to read what’s on peoples’ minds, even if you don’t realize it. You just blow past them and take it all with you.”

 

Maru snorted, joining in the quiet laughter. _Okay, so you talk in riddles and metaphors. Noted._ He found it rather amusing.

 

“So, do you want to come with me? I’m sure I can convince Chief Cian to give you a job.”

 

“That won’t be necessary. Tamati already told me I’d be welcome any time I wanted.”

 

“Tamati?”

 

“He is the one that trained me and helped me find ways to combine my people’s belief with what I found was the right thing to do. Or tried to at least…”

 

“Wait, you got certified in Piston Peak? Of all places?”

 

“Not quite.”

 

At that Windlifter actually looked a little sheepish.

 

“He was on downtime and decided that for some reason he wanted to have his vacation near us. When I found out that he was a firefighter I asked him to train me to the best of his abilities and he agreed. I learned quickly enough and by the time his vacation was over he said I was ready and handed me the certificate.”

 

“Good for you.”

 

“Indeed.”

 

Maru couldn’t help but grin. If this was how they handled things at Piston Peak then he was going to feel right at home. It sounded almost too perfect to be true. But at the same time, this familiar, albeit a little unprofessional behavior was exactly what proved that it was in fact real.

“Well then, what are we waiting for? Let’s go!”

 

Maru was actually getting excited and he knew it was showing. Windlifter didn’t seem to mind as he quietly offered to carry Maru in his harness if he had no other means of transportation. Since Maru hadn’t had time to plan anything yet – and man was that place far away from their current location – he gladly agreed.

 

_If nothing else this should be interesting._

 

The flight went by in a blur, both of them content with watching nature unfold beneath them and swapping the occasional story about their lives. Maru learned about Windlifter’s profession as a lumberjack and was already forming plans on how to build him a proper tank in his head that would fit his model and allow him to carry much more retardant than he was currently able to. He himself didn’t have that much to share. He had always dreamed of becoming a mechanic and he had become a pretty good one. His life in hospitals had been worse than boring and had actually diminished his skills instead of improving them like it was supposed to so he had started to take on odd jobs where he could. First, he helped those who couldn’t afford treatment and thrived on the challenge. Then, one of those patients had been a firefighter’s widow and she had pointed him into the direction of her husband’s old department. What started out as a trial week ended with him as a viable asset to the on-call mechanics and now he was hoping on joining the fighters permanently.

 

“Yeah, that’s about all there is to my life.”

 

“So you’re all work and no play? I had not thought you the type.”

 

Maru snorted, sending Windlifter a playful glare.

 

“Like you’re any better. And you spent half your life defying your own morals on top of it.”

 

“While honoring those of everybody around me.”

 

Maru got the sense he shouldn’t push on the topic so he let him be and changed the topic to their destination.

 

“So, what’s the chief like? Is he any good?”

 

“Those who have received shall not doubt the giver.”

 

“Okay, no judgment from you, got it.”

 

His grin widened. He was half sure that most people would be irritated with the helicopter at this point but he found he quite liked the change of pace. Windlifter was a silent force to be reckoned with but that made him all the more powerful.

 

“Are you at least excited?”

 

“No.”

 

“Ouch. Flatt out refusal. How cold of you.”

 

Maru yelped at the plane that had suddenly appeared beside them, giving Windlifter a fond look that the heavy lifter returned with a raised eyelid.

 

“Cheerful as ever Tamati.”

 

“Well of course. I got myself an infamous mechanic and my little rookie is finally coming home for the season. How’s the village?”

 

_Little rookie, huh? I think I like this guy._

 

Maru noted that Windlifter’s entire demeanor changed with the plane’s arrival. He relaxed, if only a little, and Maru was starting to get the feeling that that was when he felt the most comfortable. Relaxed, reserved, observing.

 

“And I guess you’re Maru? I’m Tamati. Welcome to Piston Peak. I heard quite a bit about you. Let’s hope you live up to your reputation.”

 

Maru smirked.

 

“And here goes my hope that Piston Peak _doesn’t_ live up to its reputation.”

 

The chief quietly chuckled.  
  
“You’ve got some humor. That’s always good in this job. I think we’re going to have fun together.”

 

“Likewise.”

 

“So, you ready to meet the rest of your team?”

 

That question was directed at Windlifter and  a silent nod was all the answer. Tamati shook his head, a fond look in his eyes as he sped up to show them the way. The first time Maru laid eyes on his new home he could barely believe it. He had seen many national parks but Piston Peak was on a whole new level. The seemingly untouched nature full of wildlife, the geysir, the rock formations, it was all so incredible to look at.

 

“I think I’m gonna need an extra tour to be able to take all that in. Or three.”

 

Tamati laughed, flying a small spiral and openly reveling in the sight.

 

“I know what you mean. If I didn’t have to go scouting every day I would probably fly around and just look at everything anyway.”

 

Maru distantly nodded, eyes trained on the sights before him as he watched the waterfall fly by. _Incredible._ When they finally reached the Air Attack Maru was surprised to find the entire team gathered in the center space of the base. He had received their files beforehand in order to be able to prepare himself so he could vaguely identify them. Besides _Tamati_ there were three air tankers – _Fireflight_ , _Alair_ and _Tobulouse_ –, a SEAT – _Melro_ – , the communications officer – _Finx_ – and the 18 Smokejumpers and Hotshots that he couldn’t identify from the air – _Malvorie_ , _Ann_ , _Licroy_ , _Marshall_ , _Steede_ , _Drolin_ , _Ashet_ , _Bria_ , _Linnt_ , _Liore_ , _Michgal_ , _Evall_ , _Ornat_ , _Flurne_ , _Burrell_ , _Hala_ , _Geelt_ and their captain _Jurigan_. The entire team wore matching grins, waving a giant banner in the air.

 

‘Welcome home, brother we never met. And welcome poor soul destined to save our afts.’

 

Maru was sure the looks on their faces were priceless. Before he even had a chance of realizing what was going on he was already being unstrapped and both of them were shoved into the middle of the crew, Tamati pressing a button on a camera and jumping in after them, the entire team, even Windlifter and Maru joining in when he shouted their name with the brightest smile Maru had ever seen.

 

“PISTON PEAK AIR ATTACK!”

 

The picture was one of the silliest he had ever seen or been in. But it described their team and their future relationships to each other perfectly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to piston Peak as it once was. So, anybody confused with the names yet?

**Author's Note:**

> So, what do you think so far?


End file.
